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Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
| last_aired = | num_series = 9 | num_episodes = 112 (list) | producer = Anglia Television | status = Ended }} Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series that aired between 1979 and 1988. Each episode told a story, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, with an unexpected twist ending. Early episodes were based on short stories by Roald Dahl collected in the books Tales of the Unexpected, Kiss Kiss and Someone Like You. The series was made by Anglia Television for ITV. The theme music for the series was written by Australian-born composer Ron Grainer. Although similar in theme and title, the show is not related to the American anthology television series, Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected, which ran for one season in 1977. Format The series originally adapted various stories from Roald Dahl's anthology books. Despite being produced on a low budget the series attracted guest stars of high calibre, such as José Ferrer, Joseph Cotten, Janet Leigh, John Gielgud, John Mills, Wendy Hiller, Denholm Elliott, Joan Collins, Rod Taylor, Ian Holm, Brian Blessed, Michael Gambon, Cyril Cusack, Julie Harris, Michael Hordern, Derek Jacobi, Siobhán McKenna, Anna Neagle, Elaine Stritch, Andrew Ray and Timothy West. Dahl introduced all of his own stories himself, giving short monologues explaining what inspired him to write them. Although many of Dahl's stories are left open to the reader's interpretation, the television series usually provided a generally accepted conclusion. This is exemplified in the story "The Landlady", the written version of which only hints at character Billy's fate, while the televised adaptation has a more resolved conclusion. Later episodes were set in different locations outside the United Kingdom, with many being made in the United States. Later series The second series featured four episodes from other writers. The title reflected this change when it became Tales of the Unexpected – Introduced by Roald Dahl – Dahl ceased providing introductions for episodes after the programme had reached series three. The series three episode Parson's Pleasure was the final episode to feature an on-screen introduction by Dahl, although he did return to provide a brief voiceover introduction to the series four episode Shatterproof. The third and fourth series' featured two episodes apiece adapted from Dahl stories and a fifth, entitled The Surgeon, featured in the final series in 1988. The series was cancelled in 1988 after the ninth series following reception from critics that the episodes were beginning to decline in quality. In the US, John Houseman succeeded Dahl as the opening narrator. Episodes have been repeated on ITV3 in 2006, and Sky Arts 2 in 2011. All series have been released in DVD format. In 1980 English writer and comedian Peter Cook starred alongside a host of celebrities in the LWT special "Peter Cook & Co.". The show included many sketches including a 'Tales of the Unexpected spoof' entitled "Tales of the Much As We Expected", which involved Cook as Roald Dahl explaining why he dropped the "n" in Ronald; the sketch ends with the fireplace spreading over the room. The series is mentioned in an episode of The Ricky Gervais Show as being one of Karl Pilkington's favourite shows, with Gervais commenting that Karl was probably the only person in the world to whom the tales were actually unexpected (a reference to the show's reputation for using predictable twist endings) 'Way Out Dahl had hosted a practically identical series for the American CBS network called 'Way Out in 1961, which was similar in concept and themes to Twilight Zone for 14 episodes on Saturday nights and also used some stories which would later be adapted for Tales of the Unexpected. Episodes References External links *Intro to Tales of the Unexpected * * *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054574/ Way Out] in the Internet Movie Database *Tales of the Unexpected Episode Guide Category:1979 British television programme debuts Category:1988 British television programme endings Category:1970s British television series Category:1980s British television series Category:British anthology television series Category:ITV television programmes Category:Television series by ITV Studios